AROUND THE WORLD.

At least 2 Afghans, 1 U.S. soldier killed

KHOST, AFGHANISTAN — At least two Afghans and a U.S. soldier were killed and 15 people wounded Friday in separate incidents in Afghanistan, police and the U.S. military said.

The U.S. Central Command said a U.S. soldier was killed and nine others wounded by a mine near Ghazni. The incident was under investigation.

In Khost, at least two Afghans were killed and six wounded in an explosion at a government military post near the former Taliban stronghold in southeastern Afghanistan, police said.

The blast came hours after more than 20 rockets landed near Khost's airport, where U.S.-led forces are based, they said.

It was the biggest single rocket attack since the fall of the Taliban in late 2001, but U.S. military spokesman Lt. Col. Bryan Hilferty reported no casualties.

Coalition forces returned fire with artillery and precision-guided bombs, but "at this time there is no indication of anti-coalition militia casualties," Hilferty said.

The attacks in Khost are the latest in a wave of incidents in which more than 550 people have been killed in the past six months, mostly in southern and eastern Afghanistan, where the Taliban militia remnants are most active.